Like most other sports, the American Rally Association’s 2020 schedule was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Just national rally event was held six months ago. Each passing week saw another event drop from the schedule, including the Southern Ohio Forest Rally (SOFR).
Event Chairman Jeremiah Johnson told Litter Media the event was moved from its usual May dates to June of 2020, then the pandemic hit and there was uncertainty for the remainder of the ARA national schedule.
Then as the country began to re-open, there was a glimmer of hope for the SOFR, however, due to health restrictions, the event was forced to be held without spectators for the first time.
The event will be run Saturday, July 18th at an undisclosed location. Johnson says fans can follow along on race day digitally through video updates on the SOFR Facebook page and the ARA website.
When Litter Media spoke with Jeremiah Johnson, Chairman of the Southern Ohio Forest Rally few weeks ago, the outlook for the 2020 event looked bleak due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A prospective date of July 18-19 was placed on the books.
But late Friday afternoon, it appears there’s new hope. The Southern Ohio Forest Rally posted on its Facebook Page Friday “The authorities have requested some revisions to our permits and plans but as of this Friday evening it seems that we will be able to host an event July 18.”
For the first time, there’ll be no spectators permitted to see the action and the annual Parc Expose and no official after party in order to stay within the guidelines for social distancing.
The organizers of the Southern Ohio Forest Rally (SOFR) and American Rally Association (ARA) have been forced to postpone the event, with the hope to still have the event on the 2020 schedule.
After a couple of years as a May event, SOFR was scheduled for June 19-20 this summer. The pandemic however, forced the group to set the event back.
In a news release late Tuesday, SOFR said “the recent decision made by the state of Ohio to extend its ‘Stay Safe Ohio Order’ order until May 29, 2020, coupled with the postponement of the necessary permitting from the state’s Division of Forestry” was the reasoning for the postponement.
“We are disappointed that we will not be able to make our much-anticipated return to the national schedule in June,” said Event Chairman Jeremiah Johnson in the release. “We are looking at additional dates, and working with the ARA and other national events to find a plausible solution to host SOFR this summer.”
The SOFR was the next event on the ARA’s 2020 National Rally Championship schedule. The last event was held in January, the Sno Drift in Michigan. Since then, the championship events in Missouri, Oregon and Washington State have been wiped from the schedule due to the pandemic.
The ARA, and its parent company USAC, are working with all of the organizers on the 2020 schedule on how to best handle each event and those needs specific to each region and event. USAC, a member of ACCUS, has been at the forefront of finding solutions to get motorsports events back up and running as soon as possible.
“We believe that there are some immediate opportunities for us to get rally back quickly,” said USAC President Kevin Miller. “We have developed several new procedures to help events not only manage their event on-site, but also show local and state authorities how we can mitigate the spread of the virus. There have been many positive changes to how states are handling this pandemic, and we are working hard to find the right solution.”
For now, the next opportunity for race teams will head to Maine and New Hampshire for the New England Forest Rally July 31st-August 1st.
SOFR’s Brent Short gives direction for a race team setting up for the Yoctangee Park StageLocal race fans catch a glimpse of the finish line along the floodwall in Yoctangee ParkLocal race fans catch a glimpse of the finish line along the floodwall in Yoctangee Park
